


All The Little Things

by Emerald Embers (emeraldembers)



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Immortal/Mortal Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:32:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3154139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldembers/pseuds/Emerald%20Embers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was always meant to miss Jamie; it didn't make their time together worthless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All The Little Things

The first alien to see Jack - Pitch and Sandy aside - wasn't a child, a drunk, or even a daydreamer. They were a scientist, brown-furred with a narrow build, and they entirely disregarded how the humans around Jack could not see him.

"What are you?" they had asked on their first meeting, voice soft and curious.

Jack had never quite figured that answer out, though he knew what he had once been, gave an answer that he could trust instead. "Jack Frost. I'm a Guardian."

The alien seemed fascinated by human culture, and having someone to talk to who had lived through modern history pleased them enough to warrant sharing their own name. At least, the name they had chosen for human tongues.

Giane picked up English quickly enough, but Jack was happy to help with translating other languages and foreign concepts for them as best as he could. He didn't seem to annoy Giane, at least, even if he wasn't entirely sure how to read their expressions.

"And no human can see you unless they believe you exist? It isn't an illusion, you have no physical presence unless they believe there should be one?"

Jack nodded, sitting on the computer table while Giane typed. "It has advantages. There aren't many people who can hurt me. Took forever for anyone to believe in me in the first place, though."

"You didn't exist before then?"

"Oh, I existed alright," Jack said, grinning, even though once upon a time that would have been a bitter answer. "I was just invisible."

An awed whisper, and the most beautiful thing Jack had ever heard; "Jack Frost?"

Jack's grin slipped, and he wondered how long it had been since he last heard that voice.

"Did I hurt you?" Giane asked, reaching over and tapping Jack on the forehead.

"No, just - remembering something. Someone."

Six hundred years, give or take, and it still ached. He hadn't spent more than a decade with any mortal since.

"Someone important?"

"He was to me."

 

Jack liked the new grave. He hadn't expected to, had protested at length about the insult of moving Jamie's body, but the new resting grounds were pretty in an artificial sort of way, neatly mowed grass and carefully maintained trees covering the graveyard, and the metal plaque fixed in the floor easier to read than the old stone had been.

A good job, really, as no one who heard his protests could have stopped the move.

Bunny had come with him a few times, North and Tooth intending to but their schedules never quite allowing it. Sandy visited once, more to comfort Jack than to pay his respects - he was far too old for death to cling to him - and several times Jack had found Pitch standing at the grave.

They rarely spoke on those occasions, but sometimes they would stand together, even allow the other to wrap an arm around waist or shoulders. Deaths rolled off Sandy, but stuck to Pitch.

"I miss him," Jack admitted, once, sitting down to watch a group of parents and children pass by, waving a hand when the children pointed and whispered.

Pitch waved in turn, and the children ran. "You always will."

 

The Guardians threw their own funeral for Jamie. Spirits Jack had never heard of came to light candles for him and pay their respects, and Jack was able to give the speech he'd been unable to make in church. He hadn't been able to make himself talk about Jamie in front of a crowd that couldn't see him.

Tooth held his hand while Bunny rested a paw on his back, making each time he choked on his words a little easier to cope with, and even if nothing could make Jamie's passing okay, it was easier to breathe when he had the other Guardians to lean on.

They all understood him. He wasn't the first Guardian to have loved a mortal.

"Give it time," North said, a promise in the warmth of his hug. "If winter is long this year, Bunny will understand. Will have yetis make cosies for the eggs."

"Thanks," Jack said, and as he hugged North back, realised he meant it.

 

Jack hadn't known how well his prank was likely to go down, but Jamie's laughing fit was worth the effort.

"You're a little short for a grim reaper," Jamie said after he settled, smiling as Jack tugged the black hood back down. "You suit black."

"You say that about every colour," Jack said, setting his scythe aside before sitting at the foot of the bed and rubbing Jamie's feet through the blanket.

"I don't remember seeing you in pink. How have you been?"

Jack took a breath to answer before Jamie tensed, lips tight as he tried to swallow his coughing, and Jack moved up the bed hurriedly, took Jamie's neck in one hand and pressed the other against his forehead, creating two focal points of cold to soothe him. "I'm okay. I'm okay," he repeated, eyes watering, waiting for Jamie to settle again. "I've been okay."

Jamie relaxed after a few minutes of quieter coughing, frowned up at Jack before reaching for his face, cradling it in a hand that wasn't much warmer than Jack's own. "You're still so beautiful," Jamie said, and Jack nodded, hating his body for never changing, never aging. "Don't get old, Jack."

"I wish I could," Jack replied, pulling his hands back and tucking them into his pockets, watching Jamie's frown turn into something more determined than pained.

"I'm going to die. Soon. I'm sick, I'm sore, and I'm tired of waiting. I want you to know - I want you to know I don't regret you. I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I love you and I don't have anything to give you but - I need you to know that."

Jack nodded again, feeling sick to his stomach with replies he couldn't voice.

"You literally kept me believing in magic," Jamie said. "Thank you."

Jack bit his lip, tucked his chin down against his chest. "I can't keep you though, can I?"

"Hey," Jamie said, brushing his thumb against Jack's cheek, "Don't do that. You made me happy, that's enough. Tell me you love me and kiss me goodbye. You deserve to be happy again."

"I love you," Jack said, pulling his hands back out of his pockets and cradling Jamie's face, skin turned fragile and cool and softer than ever with age. "I love you," he repeated, leaning in and kissing Jamie as gently as he could, lingering, knowing Jamie wanted it to be the last time. "I love you, Jamie Bennett."

"Jack Frost," Jamie replied, smiling, and Jack kissed him on the nose before climbing off the bed and grabbing his scythe, leaving before Jamie's laughter could turn into another cough.

 

Jack couldn't help it if he sometimes giggled at Jamie's facial hair. It still grew in dark and thick, his stubble, eyebrows, and lashes all a rich brown, but the rest had turned to grey, making him look a bit like the victim of a bad dye job. Sometimes Jamie would tease him in turn for "going white at seventeen", but most of the time Jamie would grumble and sulk until Jack changed the subject.

Jack liked it when Jamie was grouchy if he could fix it with tickling or nipping at his nose, but sometimes Jamie just wanted to talk; they didn't spend as much time wrestling or racing anymore, though Jamie still loved hiking and climbing.

Jamie's mood was particularly sour when he pressed Jack for a serious answer as to why he'd started to date him originally, despite knowing full well Jamie would die some day. Jack had promised him he didn't want to know several times before, but Jamie wouldn't let the subject go this time, and Jack grinned, swinging upside down from a branch of the tree Jamie was learning against.

"I really don't think I should tell you. You might get jealous."

"I'm not your first?"

"Oh my god," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Really? Again? Yours is the first dick I touched apart from my own. Think other Guardians."

"I hate guessing," Jamie replied, and Jack grabbed the branch with both hands, pulled himself up to sit on it, wondering if he actually had the right to say.

Then again, it wasn't as if Sandy had been particularly bothered by getting caught, just by the fact Jack was initially upset about it.

"I flew in on Pitch and Sandy. When I asked Sandy what the hell, he basically said life is too short."

Jamie stared, mouth half-open.

"You never wondered where sex dreams come from?"

"Wow. Who was - how?"

"Pitch has a long tongue and Sandy likes it, I guess." Jack waggled his eyebrows for effect and laughed as Jamie kept staring, cogs clearly ticking behind his eyes.

"Wow," Jamie repeated, and Jack grinned before hopping down from the branch, hooking his thumbs into the loop of Jamie's belt and pulling him close, looking over the salt-and-pepper edges where Jamie's sideburns and hairline met.

"Maybe later," Jamie said, turning his head away when Jack stood on tiptoe to try and give him a teasing kiss, and Jack sighed before letting go and picking up his staff to draw patterns on the trees, muttering,

"You're no fun sometimes."

Jamie kicked at the ground, scuffing his shoes, and Jack winced on hearing a quiet reply of, "I know."

 

Jack liked movie nights. He preferred to live outdoors, but a change of pace could be fun too, and special effects were getting more and more impressive with each passing year.

The contents of those films varied wildly though, and while Jack would never consider himself a prude, he did find himself gawping when the on-screen content took a pornographic turn yet again.

"I thought she was his sister?" Jack whispered, and Jamie sniggered before nodding. "That is so creepy," Jack said, stealing the remote out of Jamie's hands. "You're too young for this filth, we're skipping a- holy god they just killed the kid!"

"Not dead yet," Jamie replied before grabbing the remote back. "Another episode?"

Jack shook his head, standing up and stretching. One movie, or movie-length episode was enough; splitting a bottle of wine helped him sit in place for a few hours, but his legs itched to move. He wasn't given to stillness. "Can we go outside? There's enough snow for -" Jack laughed, "Hey, Jamie? Do you want to build a sno-" Jack was cut off mid-song by a sofa cushion to the face and grinned before picking it up and diving on Jamie, beating him with the cushion.

Admittedly his pride was a little bruised when Jamie successfully wrestled him to the floor, but he quickly got his revenge when he ground his hips up against Jamie's and said, "Are you going to spank me, daddy?"

"Oh, fuck you," Jamie groaned, burying his face in Jack's neck, skin burning. "That isn't hot. That is not hot."

Jack grinned wickedly. "It isn't? I can always try something else. Oh, Professor Bennett, I really need to get my grades up, is there anything I could do for extra credit?" Jack purred in a tease, laughing when it earned another groan. "Officer, I can't afford this fine, is there some other arrangem- nngh!"

Jamie's mouth on his neck and hands on his ass would have been a compelling argument for silence if Jamie hadn't followed up the neck kisses with the words, "Just call me Sir."

 

Each of the Guardians caught Jack at one point or another to give him advice. North told Jack to have fun and never go to bed on an argument. Tooth said to be careful, and promised she would always be around if he needed someone to talk to. Bunny called him an idiot, then apologised, then called him an idiot again before swearing he'd rip Jamie's balls off if he ever hurt Jack.

Sandy didn't have much to say, as always and because he'd known about Jamie before any of the others, but he gave Jack a hug before offering a heart and a clock.

Whatever he was saying, he seemed to mean well, and Jack hugged him back with a "Thanks, Sandy."

 

Jack couldn't help it if he was nervous at first. He'd run out on Jamie the last time they were this close, afraid of what it would mean to go further, what it would mean to have Jamie touch him - to have anyone touch him after centuries knowing only his own hand.

Jamie kissed and nipped at his neck, tugged up Jack's hoodie to expose his stomach, and Jack could hardly believe the heat given off by Jamie's hands, how hot his palms felt against Jack's skin.

Jack pulled lightly on Jamie's hair, harder when he didn't take it as a hint to back off for a moment, and took Jamie's face in his hands, just looking at him, all mussed hair and flushed skin and human to the core.

Jack kissed him, closing his eyes as Jamie's hands unbuckled his belt, and biting Jamie's chin as his pants were dragged down, exposing his thighs and cock.

"Wait, wait," Jack said, threading his fingers through Jamie's hair. "I, you should know I've not done this before."

"With a guy?" Jamie asked, nuzzling Jack's face but keeping his hands still.

"With anyone."

Jamie huffed out a surprised breath, air hot against Jack's cheek. "It's okay, I can be as slow as you want. Can I touch you? I really, really want to make you come."

Jack arched up with a shiver before opening his eyes, sensing laughter even though Jamie hadn't said anything and his face showed none of it. "What were you just thinking?"

Jamie raised an eyebrow before laughing, covering his mouth. "I didn't mean to."

Jack tugged on Jamie's hair, glared without any real heat. "Tell me!"

"Jacking off Jack," Jamie said, and Jack laughed with him, quietly at first before full-on snorting with it, and reaching down to grab Jamie's hand and wrap it around his cock.

"Get jacking then," he said, or tried to, breath lost on a gasp that was as much amusement as arousal.

Sex had been worth waiting for. Jamie even more so.

 

Fate wasn't a concept Jack particularly liked. The thought of some universal plan choosing to make him drown, Bunny to be the last Pooka, and Tooth to lose her parents to violence made him feel sick to his stomach.

He wasn't always happy to call some events coincidence though, because after all the years he'd known Sandy without interrupting him doing anything other than sleeping or dreamweaving, it just happened he interrupted something else the one time he needed a wake-up call.

Jack had abandoned Jamie in a rush after Jamie slipped his hands down the back of Jack's pants during a kiss, had run away claiming he had to be somewhere else. Kissing and hugging he had enjoyed, but the reality of Jamie wanting more was a reminder of how little practical experience Jack had, and of the potential disaster he faced if first practicing with a mortal. He'd never had sex before, Jamie wasn't going to be around forever, and what if he messed everything up?

Jack dropped in to visit Sandy, figuring he could trust Sandy to keep a secret, and found himself abruptly reminded there were much worse options to date than mortals.

Pitch's head was buried between Sandy's legs, Sandy face-down and spreadeagled on a pillow with dreamsand half-forming shapes before bursting into dust over his hair, and Jack let out a mortified squawk that was shortly joined by a muffled but equally mortified squawk from Pitch.

Pitch scrambled off the pillow into the shadows and disappeared, leaving a put-out Sandy reshaping the pillow into robes around him, though Sandy seemed less concerned about getting caught than getting interrupted.

"Why him?" Jack asked, after recovering from the initial shock of flying in on two immortal enemies in flagrante delicto, receiving a shrug and a little sand heart in response. "But this is - this is Pitch, Sandy! The guy who tried to kill you and kind of succeeded? If something happened..." Jack trailed off, knowing he was upsetting himself and frustrated by it.

Sandy rolled his eyes as Jack sat on his haunches to put them at eye level, patted Jack on the cheek before giving him a thumbs-up.

"Are you safe?" Jack asked, and Sandy's expression was more understanding this time, a clock appearing over his head with a cross through it.

"That doesn't really help," Jack said, apologetic, and concentrating as Sandy flashed up another clock, now joined by a miniature Pitch and Sandy dancing together. "You're safe for the time you're dancing?" he tried, and Sandy gave him a fond smile.

Close enough, then. "He'll hurt you later," Jack said. "How are you okay with that?"

Sandy puffed out his cheeks, looking thoughtful, before the dancing couple started fighting, then dancing, then fighting again, and Jack wondered exactly how long Sandy and Pitch had been at their love-attempted murder relationship, especially given how often the miniature Sandy seemed to be winning the fights.

Though that said, trusting Sandy to be a reliable narrator wasn't exactly wise. "Is it worth getting hurt for?"

Sandy's smile widened into a grin, and Jack smiled back before settling to tell him about Jamie.

 

Jamie turning seventeen was cause for celebration. Jack had always got along with Jamie, liked racing with him, playing basketball and soccer - anything they could play together than others could join in - and it was all the better while they shared a similar maturity level. Jamie was better educated than Jack had been the year he drowned, but their interests still matched up in many ways.

A guiltier part of Jack also recognised that he liked the changes in Jamie's build more than he should, Jamie now a little taller than Jack and filled out, his shoulders broad and back strong. Whenever they were wrestling together or Jamie tackled him to the ground there was an undercurrent to it now that sometimes left Jack breathless, or at least holding onto each inhale longer than he should.

If Jamie had noticed any change in Jack, he'd decided against pointing it out. They were friends first and foremost, and if Jamie wanted to be carried half-way across the country to escape homework for an evening, Jack would gladly oblige. Should anyone have seen Jamie mid-flight, it wasn't as if they would be believed, and Jack loved how Jamie would scream if Jack caught him by surprise and only stop screaming when the cold stole his breath.

After one particular escape to the desert, Jamie slumped against Jack and sighed, resting his head on Jack's shoulder. "What would happen if I just - stayed here? Forgot about school, faked amnesia?"

Jack laughed, considering it for a moment before saying, "It wouldn't be fair on Sophie. And you're rubbish with accents, they'd figure it out and send you home."

"I hate my life," Jamie grumbled.

"No, you don't," Jack said, tilting his head to press a kiss into Jamie's hair. "You just hate school. Life gets better."

"Do I have to wait - sorry, no, that was shitty, I'm shutting up now."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're not literally invisible to the people that matter. It makes a big difference."

Jamie flopped back against the sand, tugged on Jack's sleeve until Jack joined him in lying down, and Jack found himself with an arm across his stomach and Jamie's warmth pressed up against his side. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Jack nodded, looking up at the sky and wondering at how it could look so different from place to place and yet always seem familiar. "Friends forever."

Jamie's fingers grazed Jack's side, catching his attention, and Jamie stared long enough it was starting to get uncomfortable before licking his lips and asking, "Could we be friends who kiss?"

Jack's heart jumped and he wondered if Jamie could feel it racing; it was a reckless, beautiful idea, and Jack loved reckless, beautiful ideas. "We can try?"

Jamie grinned before they both leant in, bumping noses lightly as their lips met, and Jack could feel himself mirroring Jamie's grin, giggled as they kissed again, and again, and again, unable to stop smiling.

Jamie rolled on top of Jack, sand dusting his hair, and Jack didn't mind losing sight of the stars at all.

 

Jamie had saved all of them, was Jack's first believer, and loved adventures. Even if Jack loved kids as a whole, it wasn't any surprise he had a favourite; Jamie was fun and friendly and lit up every time Jack came to visit.

Jack had Sandy's advantage in that his own element was unpredictable, allowing Jack to take time out as and when he wanted to, and he was more willing to abuse that privilege than Sandy was. He made a point of visiting Burgess at least once a month, loved giving Sophie piggy-back rides and teaching Cupcake and the twins how to box, and while they all sulked when he refused to give them snow days in the middle of June, he would sometimes at least give them enough snowballs for a fight, or a drift big enough for building a snowman.

An hour or two would be enough to melt away the evidence, and it was worth the effort to see Jamie beaming, to be looked at as a friend, maybe even a best friend.

Jack was old, but he could never grow up, and it was a gift finally being able to talk to people who could.

 

Jack tried not to indulge in loneliness, taking flight until he could find a distraction whenever it tugged at him, but sometimes it hit too hard and too fast to fight off, draining his energy.

At least it cycled in a predictable way. It would hurt enough now to cripple him for a night, maybe two, then ease off over the week and disappear entirely for a few months. He had endured it before, and could endure it again.

Jack had been watching the New Year celebrations along with everyone else when a cry of agony distracted him from the fireworks, lead him to a cleared area with a young, heavily pregnant woman sitting on the floor, clutching the hand of an older man and huffing through rapid breaths.

Jack couldn't help her, but he couldn't just ignore her either, and waited for the ambulance to arrive before following her to the hospital, wanting to make sure she was safe and sound.

The delivery took eleven hours, enough time for a small crowd to gather outside - an uncle, friends, some others he hadn't worked out, and the young woman's little boy, barely a toddler himself. Jack wished he could join in the conversation, to find out more about who they were and join in the excitement.

"It's a girl; seven pounds, five ounces, both mother and baby are doing well."

Jack cheered along with the crowd, followed them inside and watching the little boy scramble onto the bed so he could look at his brand new sister.

Jack knew it was an everyday occurrence, that there had been billions of births before and there were billions yet to come, but it was still wonderful to see, and he ached at not being able to be part of it. He could watch, but never join in - he had no family, had woken up alone, and he would never be able to make one for himself. There were a few other spirits who acknowledged his presence, he'd even go as far as to call Sandy a friend, but it wasn't the same thing.

Jack watched the little boy prod at his baby sister, and wished he knew what it felt like. To have a family, a home, a place to belong.

Jack tucked his hands into his pockets before leaving, wanting to get as far from the hospital as he could before the snow that followed his bad moods became a problem. He'd wished before, for someone to love - even for a day, to have a sister, a mother, a best friend, a partner - but it didn't matter how hard he wished. He hadn't had someone to love in three centuries, so there was little point in wishing now.

Jack looked up at the stars and starbursts, the distant moon, and wished again to have someone to love.

The fact that there was no point didn't stop him trying.

It never would.

 

The End


End file.
